


in these moments

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Captain America: The Winter Soldier Spoilers, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Slash, Superhusbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 12:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1387429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony visits Steve after The Winter Soldier incident.</p><p> Contains spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in these moments

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I thought of after watching The Winter Solider — which was bloody amazing — and quickly wrote it out, but this DOES have **spoilers** , so if you have not yet seen the film, or don't want to know, do not read on. 
> 
> Unbeta'd.

Tony is halfway out the door when—

‘Don’t leave.’

His heartbeat thumps against his ears, the beeping of the IV feels as if it passes right through him; the bags under his eyes are heavy, and his whole body just a weight that drags along the air. A sigh flutters past his lips. ‘You need to rest.’

‘I rested for seventy years. I think that’s enough.’

Snorting, ‘You can’t keep using that line.’

‘Okay,’ he says, a slight hoarseness to his voice. ‘How about: I want you to stay.’

‘Yes, Captain.’

He turns, and tries not to make it obvious how much it hurts to absorb the state of Steve, study each, individual injuries. The swollen right eye, completely shut, with an angry myriad of coloured bruises, the split lip and broken ribs, but that’s not what had Tony rush over here so fast, cancelling all meetings until Steve is healthy. It is the bullets that had shot through his skin — the near fatal one that penetrated his stomach — and despite recovering in only a few days, Tony refuses to believe he’s okay until he sees it himself. 

The trouble is, Steve has probably suffered worse, and this is nothing to worry about. That he’ll complain over Tony’s anxiety, that he’s fine when he’s fussed over, but Tony can’t help it. It is stupid, so laughably ridiculous to still have that tight knot of anxiety in his stomach when, just in front of him, Steve is alive, he’s breathing, and besides the minor cuts and fractures, he’s perfect. 

Steve manages a smile. ‘Haven’t got my uniform on, so no Captain’s here.’

On shaky legs, Tony sits next to him, hand instinctively gripping onto the bed bar. ‘No, guess not.’ He looks at Steve’s closed eye again. ‘Nice war wound. Bet all the nurses swoon over how badass it looks.’

It wasn’t the best choice of wording — okay, the worse choice — but Steve appears to either not notice or ignores it. Either way, Tony breathes a sigh of relief, and nearly forgets how to release it when Steve reaches over and rests his hand over his. ‘Now, why would that be of any interest to me, when the only one I want to swoon is sitting right in front of me?’

‘Are you okay?’ Tony says after a while. ‘Do you need some water?’

‘Tony —’

‘Or food, I could go and —’

‘I’m fine.’

He sighs again. ‘It’s just, c’mon, Steve, you got shot four times.’

‘I know. I was there when it happened.’

Ignoring his attempt at sass, he reaches up with his free hand and cups Steve’s cheek. ‘When I got the call that you were found, on the side of the river, unconscious with bullets embedded with you, I thought that was it — that you were dead. What’s worse is that if you had been, I wasn’t there to save you, just like I promised you I would be whenever you needed help.’

‘It wasn’t your fault —’

‘Then why does it feel like it was?’

Steve sighs, leaning against Tony’s palm. ‘Because it was all Alexander Pearce’s. Alright?’

‘Well, yeah, I was aware of that when I was told.’

He shakes his head, and smiles, but it’s not happy, not at all. It’s full of sadness, his eyes holding something he’s reluctant to show, but he does anyway, hand reaching up to squeeze onto Tony’s. ‘No, I mean, even if you had been there for me, you wouldn’t.’

‘I’m not following —’

‘The helicarriers, the people they targeted — you were one of them.’

And he doesn’t say anything because he isn’t surprised at all by this. Targeting officials, agents or owners of companies, were expected to be on the list of assassination. He knows he’s a target, most days, by all sorts of people. If someone else had told him, he wouldn’t have felt the stab of pain in his chest, but when Steve did, it was all he felt, from the moment he saw the flicker in his gaze. 

It’s what Tony is feeling, the guilt that rips apart his insides just by the thought of the what if, the fear of losing one another. It’s those emotions, blended together, that drive him forward to kiss Steve, what he has never done in public, but he doesn’t care. If anything were to happen to him, he’d want to have been known as Steve’s, not just as the husband he’s had secretly for a few months, but as the friend he’s always needed, and who’s been there for him without question.

Steve continues as they break away, ‘And if I hadn’t done what I needed to do, if what happened hadn’t taken place, then you’d be the one dead.’

He kisses him again, lingering, to savour the taste of him. ‘It’s okay. Really. Let’s just focus on you recovering first, and then deal with this Pearce son of a bitch —’

‘Fury shot him. So, there’s no need.’

‘Wait. Fury’s alive?’

Frowning, ‘Yeah, you didn’t know?’

‘He doesn’t tell me a lot of things. But, okay, one less problem to deal with.’

‘There is one thing.’ He pauses, waiting for Tony to encourage him. ‘The Winter Solider, my friend — Bucky? I’m going after him. I know you’re not gonna want me to, but I have to. I’m not letting him face reality alone, not when he’s just realised he’s been part of an operation where he was brainwashed and remade.’

Tony nods, placing a gentle kiss to the back of Steve’s hand. ‘I know, I’m not going to stop you.’

‘Thank you —’

‘Because I’m coming with you.’ Steve opens his mouth, but Tony speaks over him. ‘No objections. Take me as I am, right? Said so in your vows, so that includes my reckless ways and minor need for thrills, oh, and my promise to protect you.’

He raises an eyebrow. ‘Minor?’

‘Didn’t you just hear the protection part?’

‘Yes, but this is more important.’

‘Fine. Yes, minor. It’s the size of a pinhead. Even smaller than that.’

‘Well, once I get out of here, why don’t we put that minor need for thrills to the test up against mine, shall we?’

The tightness in Tony’s chest loosens, his heartbeat no longer pounding, and it’s these moments, when although what’s happened isn’t forgotten, there’s everything else that keeps them remembering what is good, alive — the times they’ve fought in battle next to each other, or collapsed onto the bed at night, or the memory of the small ceremony of their wedding, or sitting here right now, are the things that keep them breathing, make them stronger.

He smiles. ‘You’re on.’


End file.
